This invention relates to an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain.
It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain which comprises means for cooling the head of a person and means for warming his feet or legs.
Another object is to provide an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain which comprises means mounted on the top of the back of a chair for cooling the head of a person and means disposed on the lower portion of the chair for warming his feet or legs.
Still another object is to provide an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain which comprises means for cooling the head of a person lying on a bed or mattress and means for warming his feet and legs.
A further object is to provide an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain which comprises means for cooling the head of a person sitting at a desk and means for warming his feet or legs.
A further object is to provide an apparatus for measuring the brain power of a person which is increased in brain activity by the use of such an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain as described hereinbefore.
According to one aspect of this invention, an apparatus for increasing the activity of the human brain comprises a cooling and warming device including a compressor for compressing a coolant such as Freon, a warming section in the form of a condenser for receiving the compressed coolant from the compressor and radiating heat, and a cooling section in the form of an evaporator for receiving the coolant from the condenser through a capillary tube and evaporating it for cooling. The compressor may be mounted in a chair. The evaporator may be mounted on the top of the back of the chair while the condenser may be mounted on the lower section of the chair. The condenser may include heat radiating pipes which are assembled into a foot rest mounted on the lower section of the chair. The evaporator may be mounted within a head rest on the top of the back of the chair. Further, the evaporator may be assembled into a pillow and connected with a box located aside of a bed or mattress through any suitable means such as hose, pipe and the like, the box housing the compressor therein. The box also receives the condenser from which the heated air is fed to a nozzle located adjacent to the feet of a person lying on the bed or mattress by means of a fan through any suitable means such as a hose, pipe and the like. Furthermore, the evaporator may be assembled into the lower section of the chair rather than the top of the back thereof. In this case, the cooled air is conducted from the evaporator near the head of the person through any suitable means such as a hose, pipe and the like.
In another aspect of this invention, the cooling means on the top of the back of the chair may comprise a head rest including a housing which has openings formed therein for causing air to pass into and out of the housing and, an electrically driven fan mounted within the housing for blowing air to the back of the head of a person through the outlet openings in the housing. In this case, the lower section of the chair includes a foot rest mounted thereon into which an electric heater is assembled. Furthermore, air may be blown toward the back of the head through any suitable moistened material such as cloth, felt, fibers and the like. In this case, the air can be cooled by means of liquid such as water as it passes through the moistened material.
In still another aspect of this invention, the apparatus comprises an electronic device utilizing the Peltier effect, which includes a thermoelement having a cold section positioned against the head of a person and a hot section located against his feet or legs.
In a further aspect of this invention, the apparatus may include a body adapted to be placed between the legs of a desk, the body housing a compressor, an evaporator and a condenser. Air is cooled at the evaporator and conducted toward the head of a person sitting at the desk through a flexible hose. He can rest his feet on the portion of the body which is heated by the condenser located therein.
This invention further provides an apparatus for measuring the brain power of a person which is increased in brain activity by means of the above-mentioned apparatus. The measuring apparatus comprises means receiving one finger of a person, means for radiating a light beam toward the finger, means for receiving the light beam transmitted through the finger to generate signals at the output thereof, and means for indicating the magnitude of the signals from the signal generating means. If a vertical or inclined column of liquid is heated near the bottom, the heated liquid will tend to rise in the column. If the outer arteries in the head are cooled, such cooled outer arteries will constrict, but if the same amount of blood is being pumped to the head, there will be a greater flow of blood in the inner arteries leading more directly to the brain because of the constriction in such outer arteries. Therefore, the combination of the heating of the feet and cooling of the outside of the head results in greater flow of blood to the brain, thereby increasing the activity of the brain.
These and other object, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings: